Pennsylvania marriage case judge won't set trial date yet

Plaintiffs Isabelle Barker, left, and her spouse Cara Palladino speak during a news conference, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Cara Palladino and Isabelle Barker, who were legally married in Massachusetts and moved to Pennsylvania, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday aiming to overturn the 1996 amendment to a state law stating same-sex marriages, including those recorded elsewhere, are not legal within the state.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

HARRISBURG (AP) — A federal judge is holding off on setting a trial date for a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage.

U.S. District Judge John Jones III on Wednesday told lawyers in the case that, before it goes any further, he wants to consider and rule on pre-trial motions, particularly one that claims the federal courts lack jurisdiction over state marriage laws.

William Lamb, a former state Supreme Court justice who’s representing Gov. Tom Corbett and state Health Secretary Michael Wolf, says the case will be over if Jones agrees with that argument based on a four-decade-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs say they don’t expect the motion to be granted. If it is, they say they’ll appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.